Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa 375 H&H Savage Photos

Also the above described rifle-375 H&H- has a 26 inch ss barrel.

Also the above described rifle-375 H&H- has a 26 inch ss barrel.

????

Mine measures 23" to the front of the receiver.

I have to ask this question. With the price of a good safari today, why choose a mediocre rifle? Not meaning to be a smart ass, just curious about the tripping over the dollars to pick up the pennies.

What is the real world price on a new one? HBB just bought Mule Deer's .340.... I may be starting to feel the need to compete

ula24, since when is savage a mediocre rifle? every one i have ever owned was dependable, reliable, and very accurate. sure, it isn't krieghoff or merkel double, heim big bore, kimber caprivi, or similiar 3000.00 plus guns, but that doesn't mean it won't perform on a hunt. sorry, don't mean to tear you down, but we can't all pay the big bucks for those guns. i agree with you that if you are going to africa and need a good gun you should buy the best you can afford. but....i see nothing wrong with a man buying the savage if that's what he wants. i personally, think that it is better suited to alaska but that's me. by the way, i have a remington 700 classic in 375 h&h and while it is by no means a top-o-the line rifle, i won't hesitate to take it on my next hunt to alaska or africa. i have udder complete confidence in it and isn't that what you want in a safari big bore? -keith

p.s. once again, don't take this to be a tear down, but i get sort of tired of posters harping on guys that don't spend 3000.00 or better on a rifle. i like them as much as the next guy, but we can't all shell that kind of money out when ever we want.-keith

People tout the Win Classic Safari, but I tried three, and they were KRAP! None would feed properly from a full magazine, and one, a 375, was so bad in every respect that Winchester bought the gun back, Brady, shipping, and all. I had two CZ 550s that cracked stocks almost immediately, and the second one had been properly bedded; the wrist broke.

Then there were two Winchester Classic SS/SYN 375s I owned. They had folding rear sights, utterly stupid for a DG rifle, and I had to change to a shallow V. Neither was what I consider accurate...1 1/2" to 2 1/2" groups at best. Both were muzzle heavy, IMO.

I tried Ruger RSMs and found them too darned heavy for my taste, as have many others. Both my pre-64 Mdl 70 375 H&H and my FN action Sako in 375 Wby are too heavy to carry very long at my age. Both are accurate rifles, but the Win never fed quite as I'd like. The Savage is relatively light and has perfect balance, as scoped. None of the above measured up in this regard. With the exception of the FN/Sako, the Savage feeds smoother than any of the other rifles I mentioned. The FN/Sako is a fabulous gun in all respects but one...it weighs a ton.

SO, getting to second rate rifles...the Savage beats any of the above guns on certain points, and it isn't second rate at all, except in the minds of rifle snobs or those who have never tried them. I find all sorts of fault with the Savage FSS 375, but all-in-all, it is a great gun for the price and measures up with any of the above, when usefulness and practicality are the measure.

The things I would change/add:

Hinged floorplate
Barrel band front sling stud
No Accu Trigger, just a good adjustable one

The list is no longer than for any of the above guns for my taste, except for the Sako, and this rifle's price offsets the cost for dipping & packing in part to fully-and then some, depending on which alternative above.

Now, as to the cost of a safari...some of us have to budget and pinch some pennies to go, and I'm in that catagory. If I can save several hunderd dollars here and there, it means I can scrape up enough to go back another time. My safaris are for a specific target species, not large or full bag safaris. I do it that way, because I like to go more often and have to not get carried away with shooting everything in sight, as can well happen to hunters used to drawing a tag of some sort every other year, if lucky. I have had to pass on an easy 44" sable and a Coke's that might have made the top ten, just to keep from shooting myself into a financial jamb; it wasn't at all easy to pass these animals.

So you see, there is a place for lesser priced but perfectly adaquate rifles on safari. I Believe I just found one.

great post! you summed up what i was trying to say beautifully. while savage has never held the "mystique" of some brands, those of us in the know have always held a reverence for these weapons. sure, they need some mods here and there but when finished you still come in way under what the high end guns cost. there is a time and place for the savages. usually, with the hunters that truly hunt and don't just collect rifles!-keith

On GA for $615.00 and GB for $612.99...plus shipping & Brady. I was sure tempted to buy MD's 340, also. It was a steal for a good rifle in that round, IMO. What an elk rifle!!

The .340 is one of the best gun buys I've ever made.

Since when does the dollars paid for a rifle determine it's accuracy? Dollars only partially guarantee a nice looking piece of a mechanical machine. Accuracy and dependability are what we are striving for when we buy a weapon. Looks in no part of the imagination will help with the direction of the projectile or final disposition.

luv2safari, thanks for the explanation. I have had good luck with Winchesters myself, and have never even seen a Savage in Africa. If you don't like Winchester, I can buy nice used Browning Safaris here for less than $1,500.00,in suitable calibers. They are not heavy. I have also never had to carry my rifle for extended periods, so weight was never an issue. I realize that every situation is different, so thanks again for taking the time to reply.

For the others with the smart comments. If you have not learned the simply lesson in life that you get what you pay for in most cases, I don't have time to explain it to you. If you think Savages are fine rifles, again I don't have time to explain things to you, you are to far gone.

I am in the process in readying myself for a hunt in March 2009 for plains game. I was told by my PH to bring a gun I had used and was competant with. I will hunt plains game and have an old Ruger M77 in 338 win mag. It has always shot within 1.5 at 100 and 2.5 at 200 which doen'take mathematical sense but nonetheless is a fact. I am buying a second rifle and it will be a Tikka 30-06. It will be a second rifle for me to take and my wife will use it to shoot a zebra and impalla. It is not an expensive rifle but every one I have been exposed to has been an accurate reliable rifle. ( at least in the hands of the shootist)

My point is that I was encouraged by my PH to not buy a gun to go to Africa with when I had one to use that was adequate. As he said save the 1000 dollars and use it for trophy fees.

I am actually spending that 1000+ on leupold rings and rifle, but the wife needs a rifle. hahahaha that is her laughing at me.

Randy

That looks like a pretty interesting rifle. It might be good to compare to a CZ and a Ruger Alaskan (in 375 Ruger).

Question for anyone who has shot one...........

Is that AccuTrigger as nice as the Savage literature makes it sound ?

Even close ?

Elephant escaped from the circus. Wound up in Mabel's garden. She called the police. Said there was a giant mouse in her garden pulling up cabbages with his tail. Police asked what he did with them after pulling them up with his tail. She said they wouldn't believe her if she told them.

It works pretty well and is similar to using the trigger in the BRNO 602 series. I don't like the aluminum wing protruding from the trigger, proper, however. I can see where it may catch on a glove in a moment when a fast snap shot is necessary, like hunting brown bear in the thickets. However, in trying to make this happen, I was unsuccessful. I'll try again with wet gloves.

The trigger on this FSS 116 breaks at a crisp 2 pounds with the present setting, and that contributes to its accuracy, IMO. I may see about an aftermarket trigger, however. I can see where the Accu Trigger is pretty nice for say antelope, open country deer, and African PG.

I got this gun specifiaclly for a Roosevelt elk hunt in wet conditions, and am convinced I made a good decision. I would take the rifle to Africa and might just do that for one last safari in 2009, health (and healthy wallet) permitting. I like the fact that there is plenty of room in the magazine for 350-380gr bullets not seated too deeply. The Savage version of CRF works well, too. I fed a round and didn't close the bolt fully, then removed the bolt, round and all. The extractor held on to the shell just as a CRF should.

I much prefer Mauser actions, but I also like to have money left for gas and lodging, not to mention the out-of-State tags and license fees. Besides, this was a good excuse to buy a new TOY!

Now, that's funny

For those interested...the 375H&H uses a long action but modified for the longer magazine. I modified two older 110 LA's to accept the 375 H&H mags...an easy milling job and it will handle rounds up to 3.60" length without any problems.

The newer 375 H&H actions are slightly different allowing for the CRF bolt head and rear ejector to be used. That mod can also be done to an older LA receiber but why bother when you can buy a new shooter for not much more than the price a gunsmith will charge to modify an older action.

After I finished the mods and installed a ER Shaw 375 H&H barrel I promptly cracked the laminated mod 114 stock with some 300 gr mid range loads. I'm just about to finish installing and bedding the aluminum bedding block I made for the remodeled stock. It looks like it might shoot again after all.

One thing tho'...I wouldn't use a standard, non-CRF Savage for any mean and nasty critters...I have two heavy caliber Sav 110 LA's, a 416 Taylor and the 375 H&H with standard ejection and mag bolt heads and I've had a few failures to feed (stovepipes), but no failures to extact or eject, so I don't consider them any sort of DGR. The problem being the mags are stamped and bent metal so the rounds can be ejected from the mag by the lifter spring pressure. It's a bit annoying to rack a round and see the mag empty out the top. More so with the heavier 350 and 400 gr 416 cal rounds than the 270 and 300 gr 375 H&H rounds, and I've changed and swapped around the lifter spring several times. Still working on that aspect, could be several things causing the stovepiping...and I mean the bullet end jumps up far enough so the whole round flies up and out before you can stop cycling the bolt. Not so very good when the PH is wetting his pants too.

'Njoy

Have you had a chance to try out Savage's factory rifle in 375 yet? If so, did you experience the same problem?

I have cycled ammo through this one about 50 times, both slow and fast with no problems of any kind. On the contrary, it feeds as well as any rifle I've owned and better than many. Is it possible they modified theirs differently, solving the cathedral problem? I would like as much information on your experience as possible, as I value it.